The lemuroid ringtail possum (''Hemibelideus lemuroides''), also known as the lemur-like ringtail possum or the brushy-tailed ringtail, is a truly singular member of the ringtail possum group. It was once thought that they were greater gliders (''Petauroides volans''); ''Hemibelideus'' literally translates as "half-glider" (''belideus'' being a diminutive form of '' Petaurus'', meaning "glider"). Named for their facial characteristics visually similar to the unrelated

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

lemur Lemurs ( ; from Latin ) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea ( ), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are Endemism, ...

s, with short snouts, large, forward-facing eyes and small ears, they are similar to other

gliding possum There are many different types of gliding possum, sometimes referred to as :wikt:volplane, volplane possum, flying phalangers, or simply as gliders, endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Taxonomically, gliding possums occupy three genera. ''Acrobate ...

s in their musculo-skeletal adaptations to accommodate a leaping lifestyle. Their long, prehensile tail is a further adaptation to their arboreal habitat. It has a bushier tail when compared to other ringtails, and can be distinguished from the greater glider by its lack of gliding membrane and much shorter, hairless ears. It is a social possum, and is found in two main colour forms: the more common brownish-gray form, with a yellowish underbelly, and a rare white form, which occurred in the

Daintree Rainforest The Daintree Rainforest, also known as the Daintree, is a region on the northeastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about , by road, north of the city of Cairns. Whilst the terms "Daintree Rainforest" and "the Daintree" are not officially def ...

and was last seen in 2005 in Mount Lewis National Park, and in 2008 believed to have been nearly extinct. This possum is found in a small area of only about 300,000 hectares in total, between Ingham and

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and in an isolated population on the Mount Carbine Tableland, both within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. They are strictly arboreal and live in the high canopies of mature forests and favour particular tree types, usually found above 480–900 metres in elevation. Body length is 30–38 cm and tail length 30–35 cm, weighing between 810 and 1140 grams. Stephen Williams, researcher on climate change and biodiversity at the Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change at James Cook University,

, stated that none were seen for several years after the

heat wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

s of 2005, when first a few were spotted (three were observed in the Daintree National Park, on

Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...

in 2009) then increasing numbers as they slowly recovered. Williams said in 2009 that there was no reason to believe the white variant would be impacted more than the brown. Then the next heatwave in struck in November 2018, when the Cairns region was hit by the highest temperatures since records began – even the highest mountain in the wet tropics reached 39 °C. Many tropical species cannot cope with extreme heat, not having evolved mechanisms to cool their bodies down, according to Williams; they can die from temperatures above 29 degrees. He said that over the past 15 years systematically species have started to disappear from the lower elevations, causing the total populations to decline as they are constrained to smaller areas at higher elevations. This puts pressure on creatures living in the mountain summits such as the lemuroid possum, which have nowhere else to go; the nearest rainforest is 1000 kilometres away.

References

External links

''Hemibelideus lemuroides'' on Animal Diversity Web
{{Taxonbar, from=Q672916 Possums Mammals of Queensland Mammals described in 1884 Species that are or were threatened by climate change Taxa named by Robert Collett